Thursday, January 10, 2008

I'm having a little trouble here. I start writing about my grandmother's blondies, and then I erase everything. Then I begin again, then erase. That's because these blondies really belong in the Top Secret Family Recipes file. But feeling especially altruistic this evening, I will go ahead and share with you what is to my large extended family, one of the most fabulous recipes on Earth. Don't worry, Mars and Jupiter, you could (maybe) still come up with something better.

Blondies are similar to brownies in that they're bar cookies, made in either a 9x9 or a 9x13 pan. But in taste, they are completely different. They are essentially brown sugar bars, and once baked, they come out a golden blondish color, hence the name. My mom's mom was an incredible baker and these blondies are one tiny glimpse into her abilities. They're easy to make, taking only 10 minutes to put together, and using limited dishes (woohoo!). Choose from one of the following two recipes, based on the size of the pan you are planning on using.

TIP: Be sure NOT to overbake these. When you test for doneness with a toothpick, a little bit of crumb should come up. In fact, the top should look slightly undercooked and pale. Gooeyness is inevitable and the only way to go!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Melt butter in a saucepan. Remove from heat and add brown sugar, mixing well with a wooden spoon. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Mix well. Add walnuts and vanilla. Pour into 9x13 or slightly larger well-greased pan. Sprinkle chocolate chips over top of batter. Bake for 16-19 minutes. Do not overbake! You want the center to be slightly gooey. A toothpick into the center of cookies will have a tiny bit of batter stuck to it when the toothpick is removed.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside. Melt butter in a saucepan. Remove from the heat. Add brown sugar and mix until well blended with a wooden spoon. Stir in unbeaten egg, egg yolk, and vanilla. Add dry ingredients gradually and the nuts. Pour batter into a greased 8x8 or 9x9 pan. Top with chocolate chips. Bake for 14-18 minutes.

10 comments:

Glorious, glorious blondies. I got to sample these, and they are ridiculous. I had to pause the Tivo so I could savor them without all that noisy interruption. I'm copying the recipes to my computer in case Marni's family revolts and makes her take down the posts.

I can't believe I've never made blondies before, but I'll soon remedy that!

Deborah: So glad you are a blondie fan now! Let me know when you make them! or maybe I'll hear through Robert first?? :)

Dave: You always have beef. Go veg for once. I wasn't about to change the order of the ingredients. This is exactly how my grandmother wrote the recipes. By the way, check your apostrophe usage. ;) (Why do we still act like sister and brother, why?!?!)

Eve: It would be more than somewhat still totally yummy! In fact, I did just that on Thursday night when making these (for the second time this week!!), and I used parve chocolate chips and margarine. The key to the goodness is NOT to overbake them.

Mmmm, I made these this morning, and we ate half of them still warm out of the pan since it's about 7 degrees outside!!! Thank you for posting the recipe, and thanks to Deborah for directing me here from her blog ;)

was in the mood to try making blondies this week so instead of searching through all my cookbooks i went straight to happygomarni to check if there was a tried and tested recipe. lo and behold there was. so i made it.

that was wednesday. the pan is finished and more requested already so made another lot. that's quite some recipe! thanks :)

About Marni

I’ve always loved baking. I come from a family of amazing bakers going back many generations. And I have two large bookcases in my living room, both of them filled only with my 1000 cookbooks. I even considered it as a career and almost attended pastry school in San Francisco after college. But I went the route of digital marketing and got a Masters in Communication Management from the Annenberg School for Communication at USC. So baking is just a hobby. But I take hobbies seriously! And getting to moonlight as a baker is a great thing. I’m very happy.